Fever
by SoraTadano
Summary: Sometimes even a fever can have a good side.


Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis

* * *

**Fever**

Atobe felt dizzy, maybe he should have stayed home, but then again Ore-sama wouldn't be stopped by a mere fever.

"Are you alright, Atobe-buchou?" Jirou asked sleepy, as he woke up and noticed that Atobe seemed a little distracted.

"Ore-sama feels completely fine." The young heir answered.

The blond looked at his captain and said nothing, but he didn't really believe in that answer.

"Since you are awake , you should train too."

"Okay, but who will be my opponent? To train alone is way to boring."

Atobe sighed and stood up. "Ore-sama will be your opponent."

Jirou jumped up happy, this would be a funny match, because playing with Atobe was always a challenge.

*One match shouldn't be a problem.* The captain of Hyoutei thought.

A match wouldn't have been the problem, if Jirou wasn't completely awake now. The silver haired teen noticed that he got closer to his limits, but he couldn't stop the game, it wouldn't be like him to do that.

Atobe's vision blurred, he missed the ball and finally got on to his knees.

"Atobe!" Jirou ran to his captain.

When he saw Atobe's face, the blond realized in what condition the other one was.

"What have you been thinking to play like that?!" He asked angry.

Atobe didn't answer, he looked like he was close to fainting.

The other team members noticed that something was wrong and came to look what it was.

"What's wrong with Atobe?" Yuushi asked.

"Is our great captain sick?" Wakashi asked in a mocking voice.

"Shut up Wakashi! Kabaji help me to carry Atobe to the clubroom. He is running a fever." Jirou ordered in a serious voice.

"Usu." With that Kabaji picked Atobe up and carried him into the clubroom.

Jirou turned to the others and said, "If anyone of you should loose a single bad word about this, I swear you will get to know why I belong to Hyoutei."

Everyone looked disbelieving at the normally sleepy and cute boy. Even Yuushi seemed a little shocked.

"Since we got that clear, you should go home. I'll take care about the rest." The blond said in his usual voice and smiled when he went after Kabaji.

"I've never seen him that serious. I guess now we know how he was able to survive at this school." Gakuto said unbelieving.

The others just nodded and left, no one of them wanted to have a fight with a mad Jirou.

When the Volley-specialist entered the room, he found Atobe lying on the couch.

"You should call your driver. You need to rest at home."

"Ore-sama is fine Jirou. It's just a fever."

"Fine? You are definitively not fine. And don't argue about that, you nearly collapsed during our game."

The young heir couldn't say anything against that.

"Kabaji you can go home now. I'll take care of him until his driver arrives."

Kabaji just nodded and left.

Atobe tried to sit up, but Jirou held him down.

"Rest for a little while." With that the blond went to search for a towel.

When Jirou came back, Atobe felt something wet and cold on his forehead. He sighed at the pleasant cold feeling and relaxed a little. The Volley-specialist smiled and took a seat at Atobe's side.

"Why are you still here? I don't need your pity." Atobe said bitter.

"I'm still here because I know that you wouldn't rest when no one is around to make sure about that. Besides I don't pity you, I just want you to feel better." Jirou replied.

The captain closed his eyes, he simply was not in the mode to argue with Jirou.

"Try to sleep. I'll wake you up, when your driver arrives."

"Thanks Jirou." The sick boy said tiered.

The blond smiled again and gently touched Atobe's shoulder. "You are welcome."

When he was sure that Atobe was asleep, Jirou started to caress Atobe's face. Unconsciously the sleeping boy leaned into the touch and a small content sigh escaped his lips. A light blush appeared on Jirou's face. The blond knew, that he liked his captain way more than he should do, but he just couldn't help it.

"I wish you would show me your true self without something like this." The boy said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

They stayed like that for a little longer, until Jirou heard that the driver arrived.

"Atobe. Atobe wake up." The blond said softly.

The young heir stirred and slowly woke up.

"Jirou?" He asked sleepily.

"Your driver is here. Go to the car, I'll carry your bag."

"You don't-"

"I said I'll carry your bag." Jirou said determined.

He took the bag and waited for Atobe to follow him.

"Atobe-sama." The driver greeted his master.

"Ore-sama wants to get home." Atobe ordered.

"Yes, master." With that the servant opened the door to the back seats for the young heir. The boy got into the car and noticed that Jirou was about to accompany him.

"What are you doing Jirou?"

"Getting into the car, obviously. Have you really thought that I would leave you alone when you're in a condition like this?" The blond asked, as if it was completely normal to do something like this.

Atobe said nothing, but it seemed like he was searching for something in Jirou's eyes, before he let the boy into the car.

"Ne, Atobe you know that you can trust me, right?" Jirou asked serious.

When he didn't get an answer, he turned to his buchou only to see that the other was asleep again.

*He must be really tired, when he falls asleep that fast.* Jirou thought, as he gently stroked through Atobe's hair.

"Mhm, Jirou?" Atobe murmured when he woke up, because he felt someone touch him.

"S-sorry I-I just..." The Volley-specialist stuttered, he felt like he got caught doing something very bad.

"It feels nice." Those words surprised Jirou, he was sure that it felt nice, but he never expected Atobe to say that.

"Please, don't stop." The captain of Hyoutei said sleepily. In his current state it made sense not to stop something that felt good.

Jirou looked shocked at his captain, whom must be really sick and tired to say such a thing, especially to another teammember.

The car stopped and the driver opened the door for them. Atobe left the car, Jirou followed him to the manor.

The blond knew that his captain wouldn't show any signs of weakness in front of his staff.

Jirou walked close to Atobe just in case that the silver haired boy would trip or something like that.

When Atobe closed the door to his room, his mask fell and Jirou could clearly see how exhausted he really was.

"Atobe go to bed. I'll take care of you." The blond said softly.

The sick boy did what he was told to do and laid down on his bed.

"I'll go and get something to cool you down." With that Jirou left the room.

Atobe sighed and looked at the celling. *It's nice to have Jirou around. He is really caring.*

A short time later he heard voices in the hallway. "No. He does not need something. He's going to help me for school and we don't want to be disturbed." Jirou sounded angry.

"But the young master has important tasks to do."

"Not right now!"

"But-"

"No. Atobe has promised to help me. Do you want him to break that promise?" Jirou asked in a dangerous low voice.

"N-no. Please excuse my rudeness. I had no intentions to do that." The servant said nervous.

"Good. Now please let us alone." The blond said, before he entered Atobe's room.

He noticed that Atobe looked at him and blushed, because he was sure that Atobe had heard him.

"Promised to help you, hm?"

"I just wanted to make sure that you can rest. I know that you would never want to show them that you are sick." Jirou stated and placed a wet towel on Atobe's forehead.

"Why are you doing this?" Atobe asked after a while.

Jirou blushed again and answered, "I do this, because I care for you. You are dear to me."

The young heir looked serious at Jirou. The blond was sure that his captain was searching for any signs that he had another reason to be here.

Jirou smiled and caressed Atobe's face.

"Sleep for a little while, you need to." The blond said softly.

Atobe closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep.

When Jirou was sure that his buchou was sleeping, he whispered, "I like you, I really do. You are very proud and you act cold and selfish, but I know that you are a really nice and caring person. You're just wearing a mask to protect yourself, that's why I like you."

Atobe murmured something that sounded like, "...like you...too..."

The Volley-specialist smiled and whispered, "Daisuki da yo, Keigo."

What the boy didn't know, was that Atobe wasn't asleep any longer and heard that sentence, he was not a heavy sleeper after all.

"So you really do more than just like me, ahn?" The silver haired boy said sleepy.

Atobe knew that Jirou cared for him, but now he knew how much the blond cared for him. Maybe, no for sure, he found the person. who was worthy to be entrusted with his heart and he would never let that person go.

But said person had other thoughts, Jirou panicked because thought that he just destroyed their friendship. He was about to get up and leave when Atobe held him back.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I-I thought that-"

"Do I look like I want you to leave?" Atobe asked serious, but he still sounded exhausted.

"No."

"Then why do you assume that I want you to?"

Jirou was silent for a moment. "You could have every girl you want and I'm just your teammate, why would you want me? On top of that I'm male."

"And you are the one who really loves me, not my name or my money. Why wouldn't I want to be with you?"

The blond was speechless, he knew that there were many people, who wanted Atobe just for the name or the money, but he never thought about the fact that he himself was different and that he may had a chance because of that. Jirou wanted to laugh at how blind he had been.

"I've never thought about that, man I must have been really blinded by my negative thoughts."

"Obviously you have been, because I want to be with you." Atobe said with a small smile on his lips. Jirou really was different from other people, only he could think about Atobe all the time, but never think about his own chances.

"Say it again Jirou." Atobe just wanted to hear that sentence again from his Jirou.

The blond smiled and said, "Daisuki da yo, Keigo."

The young heir said nothing, but laid his head on Jirou's lap and closed his eyes again.

Jirou knew exactly what that meant, it was just like a "I love you, too.", when it was Keigo, how did that.

The blond was very happy, who would have thought that a fever would get him the person he loved?


End file.
